


Mega Relations

by JadelynTate



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers, Power Rangers Megaforce, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers in Space
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, M/M, Polyamory, Ranger Kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-09
Updated: 2013-03-03
Packaged: 2017-11-28 18:18:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/677396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadelynTate/pseuds/JadelynTate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The new team was unaware of just whose footsteps they were following...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Emma

**Author's Note:**

> This was basically me, having a bunny, that refused to leave me alone. Obviously not canon and never will be (given their apparent last names) but I wanted to write it nevertheless. Enjoy!

Emma had had the weirdest day of her life, she decided as she walked from her car to the house she'd lived in all her life. Loogies, Power Rangers, Gosei...it was like something from her father's stories when she was younger. 

Power Rangers weren't unknown to her, of course—she remembered watching the news back when she was in elementary school. But Rangers hadn't been seen on Earth since then, since the Samurai team. At least, she didn't think they had. She frowned. Maybe she should look into that. 

“Emma, is that you?” her father called out from the kitchen.

“Yeah,” she called back, taking a moment to do a quick once-over in the mirror in the front room to make sure nothing about her appearance screamed “just got in a fight with aliens!” 

Cause, yeah, that would go down _real_ well with her dad. 

Dad looked up when she came in and she wasn't sure, but he appeared relieved. “There you are,” he said, watching as she set her camera and backpack on the kitchen island. “I thought...” he shook his head and gave her a small smile. “Good day at school?” 

“Yeah,” she agreed, sliding into a stool and accepting a cookie. “Are these fresh?” 

“I took a break to bake,” he agreed. Emma frowned but he didn't see or didn't acknowledge it, instead turning back to the stove and the food on top of it. 

Her dad had learned to bake after her mom died, back when she was just four years old, because he'd been told by his best friend that “cookies cured everything.” Ever since then, whenever one of them was worried or stressed, he baked. Thing was, he had no reason to bake now—it wasn't the anniversary of mom's death and as far as she knew, nothing bad was happening with him with work—he'd been on a writing streak for almost six months now, churning out almost an entire trilogy in that time. The only thing happening in their lives was the beginning of the school year and her becoming a ranger. 

It must have been the school year, she decided watching him. He'd always gotten weird and sentimental around this time. She was a junior now, which might be why he was acting like this—one more year and she was a senior. 

Shaking her head, she slid off the stool and over to the radio, turning it on. Though old-school, her father never missed Tanya Sloan's show at six o'clock. They were friends and, Emma was almost certain, had dated in high school. Hearing the opening melody of one of the current pop hits, Emma proceeded to pull out the makings of a salad.

_And now for what, I'm sure, most of Angel Grove is wanting confirmation about, _Tanya said over the radio. The woman Emma had met several times sounded...not worried, exactly, maybe concerned? They could hear her take a deep breath, even over the radio. _For the first time in almost fifteen years, Power Rangers have been spotted in Angel Grove.___

Her father had tensed up again. Though his back was to her, she could still see the way his grip on the spatula he was holding had tightened to the point of turning his fingers white. She bit her lip, wondering what was going on.

 _We don't yet know much about this new team but we do know that they have been seen fighting new footsoldiers, identities also unknown. NASADA and the Alpha Corporation have not yet made a statement but Andros Dante, leader of the last team to see action in Angel Grove, was seen entering NASADA headquarters less than half an hour after the new team was spotted,_ Tanya continued. Emma frowned.

“What's the Alpha Corporation?” she asked before she thought better of it.

“AO is the official ranger organization,” her father answered after a moment as Tanya asked for any witnesses to call the station and then it went to music. “It's the group that deals with the rangers and the various governments of the world. It's run by rangers.” 

“Oh,” she said. And then, “Dad, are you okay?”

“I don't want you outside in the open during attacks,” he answered, turning to her at last and ignoring the food behind him. He caught her stare and held it, his expression as serious as she'd ever seen it. “I was your age when the rangers first showed up—if these...attackers are anything like Rita, Zedd, or the Machine Empire, they won't care who they hurt trying to get what they want. The battles...the fights...the mayor is thinking of reopening the safety centers. If he does, you get yourself in one of them and you stay there until the all-clear is given, do you understand me?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, biting her lip. “I understand.”

“I need more than that,” he said, moving to hold her arms and stare down at her. “I need you to promise me that you'll do as I ask.”

“I...I promise, Daddy,” she whispered, heart breaking as he wrapped her in a hug and let out a deep breath of air. “I promise.”

It was a promise she would never be able to keep.


	2. Gia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gia returns home.

“No, Cruger, I don't know anything,” Gia's father was saying when she quietly slipped into the house at seven that evening. She was so late it wasn't even funny and her mom was going to read her the riot act for not being there to help with dinner like she'd promised. She paused just outside the kitchen, wondering who he was talking to—maybe some new nerd he'd hired? 

“No, if you find out let me know,” Dad continued and she peeked in the room to see her mother leaning against the counter and watching him, a stack of pizza's for the family sitting near the stove. She winced again and mentally waved her weekly allowance goodbye—there was no way that wasn't coming out of her money. “I know, everyone's freaking out—no, nothing. No, you know the rules, don't you dare try coming in. You might be....exactly, listen to the cat.”

Gia frowned, confused, when her mother hissed and her father waved a hand and said “Manx” that had Mom calming down. “Yeah, we'll keep in touch. Just...yeah, I understand. Goodbye.” 

“Well?” Mom demanded and she was upset—her accent always got thicker when she was upset. 

“They don't know either,” Dad answered tiredly as he put the phone back on the charger. “But they promised to keep us apprise—Gia!” 

Flinching at the startled exclamation, Gia stepped fully into the room as her mother turned around. “Um. Hi?” she asked. “I know I'm late--” 

“Where have you been, young lady?” Mom demanded, arms crossing and looking furious. “You were supposed to be here at five to help me make dinner!”

Her mother seemed entirely too upset for this to be just about Gia missing dinner but for the life of her, Gia couldn't figure out what that might be. “I know and something came up with Emma...I would have been here sooner but...” 

“You could have called,” Dad reminded her. “We gave you that cell phone for a reason.” 

Gia winced again, thinking of the shiny state-of-the-art cell phone her dad had created specifically for her and that was sitting in the bottom of her backpack, right next to her new morpher. She hadn't even thought of using the phone. She'd have to fix that if she were to keep her parents from finding out about her new extracurricular activities. Dad was smart, if she didn't cover he'd figure it out in a heartbeat. 

“I know...I forgot,” she said and suddenly, inspiration struck. “I mean, with the insanity of Power Rangers showing up...I was distracted.” 

And the kicker was, it wasn't technically a lie. They just didn't need to know just how much of a distraction it had ultimately proved to be. 

All the fight seemed to leave them both as they exchanged weary looks. “We know, sweetie, we were just...worried,” Mom said, reaching forward to push a lock of Gia's blond hair—the same shade as her own—behind Gia's ear. 

“About what?” the new yellow ranger asked, frowning. “I was fine.” 

“Gia, we were in high school when the Power Rangers first showed up in the city,” her dad reminded her and he sounded tired. “In fact, I was there the day they first arrived—and was there almost entirely till the last team. I remember the danger well, much more than some of the people in this town.” 

“We both do,” Mom said, moving to wrap an arm around her husband's waist. Gia suddenly understood and was horrified. 

“But I was fine!” she reminded them. And because they didn't look reassured she added, “And it's not like these rangers even have zords. I wasn't about to get squished.” 

Her parents exchanged wry looks. “It's only a matter of time,” Mom said, shaking her head. “They always get 'em.” 

“From now on, I want you to call us after an attack,” Dad said, straightening up. “Even if you're at school—I know its against the rules but I think I can trust you to figure out how to get it done.” 

Gia's eyebrows shot up. “Wait, really?” 

“Just don't take advantage,” he said. Mom didn't look entirely convinced by this either, looking at her husband with a faintly skeptical look. He looked between them. “What? I break the rules occasionally.”

Her mother snorted. “Since when?” 

Gia took the ensuing bickering as her cue to skeddaddle—maybe if she disappeared upstairs quick enough, they'd forget about revoking her—

“Oh and Gia?” Mom called when she was halfway up the back stairs. “Don't expect an allowance this week. I used it to buy dinner.” 

Damn.


	3. Jake

“Jackson Adam DeSantos, you get your ass in here right now!” 

“What did I do now?” Jake asked himself as he stepped into the living room. Taking in the angry expression on Papa's face, he knew he was in trouble. 

Then his gaze fell on the vase sitting on the coffee table and he winced. Oh yeah, that. Shit. 

“You want to explain to me why you're mother's vase suddenly looks like a 3D puzzle?” Papa asked, arms crossing. 

Jake took a deep breath. “Yeah, uh, see, I sorta...didwhatIwasn'tsupposedtodoandplayedsoccerinsidethehouse.” 

“Wanna try that for me again?” Dad demanded. “Because I think you just said you were playing soccer inside the house—again!”

“He did, Papa!” ten year old Mary smirked from where she'd been hiding on the sofa. To Jake, she added, “Told you he'd find out!” 

“Shut it, pipsqueak!” 

“Papa, he called me a Pipsqueak!” 

“Both of you, be quiet!” Dad said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Karma, its gotta be karma,” he muttered almost too low for Jake to hear. More loudly to announced, “Jake, get your laptop and iPod and put them in my room, you don't get em for a week. Mary, you're grounded from watching TV the rest of the week.” 

“What did I do?!” Mary demanded, outraged, as Jake groaned. 

“You obviously knew about the vase and didn't tell me. And knowing you both, you helped him put it back together,” Dad said. “So, grounded.” 

Jake smirked as Mary began whining that that wasn't fair. He could handle the loss of iPod and laptop—his little sister and her TV, not so much. 

“Mary, whining is just going to make punishment longer,” Dad said. “I've had a bad day, the least of which was finding your mother's vase got smashed. I'm really not in the mood.” 

And he wasn't lying—Dad looked exhausted and worried and the way he kept looking out the window... Definitely a bad day at the station. Jake took a brief moment to wonder if his dad had been one of the responders to the fires that sprang up from the ranger's fight or if he'd been one of the ones on standby just in case. 

“Papa, what's for dinner?” thirteen year old Steven chose that moment to poke his head into the living room. Jake shook his head frantically but the other boy didn't seem to notice. “Nothing's on in the kitchen.” 

“Damnit,” Dad swore and Jake saw his chance to get back in his good graces—sorta. 

“I can make something,” he offered. “Call mom, see how her conference is going. I'll get them fed.”

“You're still grounded,” Dad said after a moment. “But thank you.” 

Mary and Steven both groaned as Dad headed to his and mom's study. “Great, it's gonna be soup,” Steven muttered. “Why can't we just order out?” 

“Why do you assume it's going to be soup?” Jake demanded as he ushered his siblings into the kitchen. 

“Maybe because that's all you can make without burning it?” Mary offered. Jake grabbed a dish-towel and swat at her. 

Making dinner with Steven and Mary underfoot like normal was...disconcerting. He'd had one of the wickedest days in his life and all he wanted to do was shout it from the rooftops—his life, as Gosei had said, was changed forever and no one seemed to notice. 

Which, yeah, technically the point of a secret identity but off-putting nevertheless. 

Deciding his dad deserved it—mom had been at the conference for a week now and wasn't expected back for another few days—Jake filled up the bowl with chicken noodle (so, yeah, he really did only know how to make soup, sue him) and carefully took it to the study. 

“No, Billy, I know you're worried...yes, I am too, we don't know anything about—will you please stop interrupting me?” Dad was on the phone and not with mom—it sounded like it was Gia's dad. Jake perked up, leaning just out of sight to listen. 

Getting tagged by Gosei wasn't the first time Jake, Noah, Gia, and Emma had all met outside of school. Their parents had all been good friends since their own high school days and so the four teens had seen each other occasionally at barbeques and such but they'd never really been close as a group. Angel Grove had four different elementary schools and he and Noah had been at one, with the girls at another. They could have gone to the same middle school but the city changed the district lines when they were in fifth grade and so the girls ended up at South Angel Grove and the boys at North. It was only the last two years they'd really been in the same school, seeing each other day after day but by then, they'd firmly established themselves as two separate duos.

Maybe that would change now though—they were a team after all. 

“No, if I hear anything I'll...Tanya's worried?” 

Tanya was Mrs. Carver, Noah's mom. Jake frowned. 

“No, I mean it's not like...exactly,” Dad said, rubbing his forehead. “God, this sucks. Now I understand what our parents must have been worried about back when we were in high school. Why did we all stay in Angel Grove again?”

No wonder dad was freaking out—he'd been Jake's age the last time rangers showed up in the city, he must be worried sick about something happening to them. He coughed, deciding it was time to let his dad know he was there. The older man looked up, saw the bowl, and gave a small smile, waving him in. “Yeah, anyway, I gotta go, Jake's got dinner. Yeah, talk to you later. Bye.” 

Dad hung up and then looked at the bowl Jake had set down on his desk. “What happened to you can cook things beside soup?” he asked, digging in either way. Jake rolled his eyes. 

“I didn't feel like proving to them I could,” he said and Dad grinned through his mouthful. Jake went to leave him but paused in the doorway. 

“You know things'll be fine, right?” he asked and Dad looked up at him puzzled. “I mean, Angel Grove's not new to this like it was when you were my age.” 

Dad set down his spoon and swallowed. “I know,” he agreed quietly and there was something there, something Jake didn't understand, before it abruptly vanished with a smile across his dad's face. “But its a parents prerogative to worry.” 

“Sure,” Jake agreed. “Night Dad.”

“Night Jake,” Dad said and Jake left the room. He stopped just outside before glancing back to find his dad staring at a poster of an ape that had hung in the office since before Jake had been born. Shaking his head, the newest black ranger headed upstairs to do the homework he already had.


	4. Noah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is where the polyamory comes into play (sorta). If it squicks you, I suggest you head on out.

Noah wasn't expecting his mother to be home when he got in that evening. During the week, she worked the evening shift at the radio station and so his dinners were usually just him and his dad. Dad, however, was in the middle of a pretty big case at the moment so Noah wasn't expecting him to be home either. Given the only other member of the Carter clan was doing her first year at UCLA, Noah wasn't expecting much of anything in the way of food when he got in.

Walking into the kitchen proved his theory of eating alone that night correct, as he found money and a note from his dad to order in whatever he'd like but to remember to be in bed by ten. There was also a sticky note from his mom that said if she found him asleep in his lab in the garage again, she'd lock him out for the remainder of the week. Given she'd found him there most of the summer, it was a legitimate worry and thus, a threat.

Calling a local Chinese place, he put in his order, gave the house address, then headed to his lab. He turned on the radio station, smiling at the sound of his mother’s voice. 

“And, before I forget, today was the first day at Angel Grove High,” mom said on the radio and Noah paused in taking out his morpher to listen to what she had to say—she had an amusing habit of giving him advice or telling him what to do through the radio when she couldn’t be home with him. “And that means all the little boys and girls need to remember—it’s not summer anymore kids. Bedtimes have changed. … and if you are not doing homework or in bed when I get home, you are totally grounded, Noah Adam.” 

Rolling his eyes, he finished pulling out his morpher and set it on the bench in front of him. He wanted to see if there were any power readings coming from his morpher that he could detect with his, admittedly limited, equipment.

Two hours and several empty food cartons later, Noah had his answer. As far as he could tell, the morpher wasn't giving off any energy, sound, or vibration that he could detect. He contemplated going to Gosei and asking him or Tensou about it but realized, A) it was way too late to go right now, and B) he probably shouldn't be trying to experiment on his morpher in the first place. What if he messed it up and he couldn't morph again? He'd have let his team down within twenty-four hours of their formation!

Sighing in disappointment, he put his morpher back in his backpack and instead pulled out his homework. It wasn't a lot and he'd probably be done in an hour, but he wasn't the type to procrastinate. Now Jake, yes, Jake probably would, despite the promise he made the day before about actually trying to get his homework done on time this year.

He was just finishing his response to the English prompt they'd been given (the last thing he had) when he heard a car pull into the driveway. A quick glance at the clock told him his mom hadn’t stayed at work past her getting off, a surprising occurance—she usually stayed an hour or so past her show’s end so that she could get everything prepped for the next day and double check everything was good for the other deejays. He turned back to the side door into the garage and smiled; from the sound of the cursing coming from outside, his mom had gotten stuck in the seat-belt again. He made a mental note to go and fix it for her as she'd never actually go to the mechanic for something so seemingly trivial.

“Noah?” The door opened and his mom poked her head inside. She smiled when she saw him. “I thought I'd find you in here.”

“Yeah, just finishing my homework,” he said, holding up the laptop.

She stepped inside more fully, closing and locking the door behind her. “What are you working on?”

“English,” he answered, making a face. She laughed slightly, coming over and sitting down on the second stool, dropping her purse down next to his backpack.

“What was the assignment?” Mom always liked hearing about his homework, stating they tended to go a bit more in depth than she remembered in her high school days.

“A writing prompt,” he said, sliding his notes over for her to see. “If I could change the world how would I go about it? Ms. Hart says we'll have a writing prompt every week. Jake wasn't happy about it.”

Mom tilted her head, a curious look on her face. “Ms. Hart? What happened to Mrs. Carmichael?”

“She went on a year long sabbatical to study Shakespeare in England,” he answered. “Ms. Hart is taking her place for the year. She told us she grew up in Angel Grove and only recently moved back.”

Mom blinked, looking at him much more intently. “She wouldn't happen to be short, with brown hair and brown eyes, would she?” she asked and Noah stared in surprise. “Well, I'll be damned. Kim moved back—I wonder why she didn't tell any of us.”

Mom looked confused but so was Noah. “You know Ms. Hart?”

“Sort of,” Mom agreed. “She left Angel Grove before I moved here but she used to be very close to a bunch of my friends—Gia's dad and her grew up next door to each other—they were best friends. And she dated Tommy.”

Dr. Cranston and Dr. Oliver were two of Noah's heroes— the latter was a leading expert in his field and the former owned Lone Wolf Technology, the top technological company in the world. Noah's plan for the year was to do as well as he possibly could so he could get the summer student internship at Lone Wolf come May and then go on and try and get a job working at one of Dr. Oliver's field school's after graduation the following year.

Noah suddenly remembered Troy talking intently with Ms. Hart during lunch, the way she'd smiled at the new boy as if she'd known him. “Mom, she doesn't happen to have any kids, does she?”

Mom's lips took on a pinched look. “Yes, she does,” she agreed slowly. “You remember how we talked about all kinds of families when we visited NewTech that one time?”

Noah nodded—NewTech was the main city for alien immigration on Earth, as well as being home to SPD, so his parents had taken him there one summer to tour the facility. Joining SPD once he finished university was his fall-back plan to opening his own lab. They'd seen a lot of alien families and an unsurprising amount of their familial units were somewhat different than what was the norm on Earth.

“Well, Kim—Ms. Hart—became very good friends with a gay couple when she was living in Silver Hills and when they needed a maternal donor, they asked her,” Mom said, reaching out and trying to smooth down Noah's curls. “Only Kim—Ms. Hart—couldn't stay away as well as she'd thought she'd be able to so they asked her to move in with them. They've been raising their little boy since then together.”

“How come I've never heard about her or them before?” Noah asked, suspecting he knew who the “little boy” was.

Mom grimaced. “Because not everyone in our circle was as...understanding...of Kim's choice as they should have been and words were said that couldn't be taken back. They've worked through it, mostly, but your father and I agreed it was simply easier not to bring it up when were with the others. And, honestly, I didn't know her that well and I really only knew her through the others so...we lost contact.”

Noah wasn't sure how to feel about this. On one hand, he could understand not wanting to get caught in the middle but on the other...how could someone get upset about a woman choosing what _she_ wanted to do with _her_ body?

“I don't know, baby,” Mom said and Noah realized he'd said that last part out loud. “It never really made sense to me either. Though to be perfectly honest, I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that she didn’t tell anyone until she was already eight months pregnant.”

Noah smiled and vowed to talk to Troy and ask him, not to simply assume or go digging on his own. In fact... “Can I use the phone?” he asked.

“Gonna call Jake?” Mom asked, running a hand down his back, as if reassuring herself he was safe and sound; she hadn't done that in years, not since the last time an experiment of his blew up.

“No, a new student, check to make sure he's doing okay after his first day,” he said and Mom smiled, kissing the top of his head before picking up her purse and standing.

“That's my boy,” she smiled. She paused in the doorway leading to the rest of the house, looking over her shoulder at him as he picked up the cordless. “Love you, baby.”

He smiled at her. “Love you too, Mom.”


	5. Troy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the blatant polyandry comes into play. You've been warned.

Trudging his way into the house he'd barely gotten settled into before school started, Troy felt himself smile when he heard his mom singing along to a radio. Following the sound, he found her in the backyard, finishing up her garden while his dad's sparred nearby. Taking in the familiar setting, he felt the smile fall off his face.

He hadn't told his teammates about his unusual family. When Gosei had mentioned his adversity, he hadn't been kidding. He'd dealt with enough problems back in Silver Hills and he'd planned to put it off as much as possible when it was announced they were moving to Angel Grove to open a new BioLab office. Maybe this time his classmates would get to know him for him before they found out about his parents.

Dad and Pops had fallen and fallen hard for each other years back and when they'd wanted a kid, they'd looked into everything. The problem with everything they'd investigated was that all of them were for one father, one mother and neither of the former Silver Guardian Commanders had been comfortable with that—in Pops words, it would have been entirely too obvious who the biological father was no matter what they did and while they could have ultimately handled it, it wasn't what they wanted. If they couldn’t have a kid with both their DNA, they’d go for full out adoption. 

Grandpa had known the problem would eventually come up and so, without Dad knowing, he'd set aside some money and had built up a group in BioLab to look into alternative methods. By the time Dad had gone to Grandpa complaining about neither of them being born a woman, the scientists had come up with a new version of in-vitro that, theoretically, would create a child with two fathers and a mother.

Dad and Pops said, quite often, that it had been a no-brainer who they would ask to be the mother. Mom had moved to Silver Hills back when they'd just started dating, moving into the house next door to Pops, and had been one of their closest friends since then. There had been only one other person Dad would have trusted with their child but she lived too far away and Pops had admitted he would never have agreed as she had been Dad's “one that got away.”

So Mom had gotten pregnant and had Troy, the only kid in the world who had two biological dads and one biological mother. Initially, Dad and Pops had had an agreement with Mom that she would see Troy at least once a week but after the first six months, it became apparent that arrangement wasn't going to work for any of them. So they'd invited Mom to take the guest suite and the four of them had been living together ever since.

Occasionally, once the situation had been explained in full, people approved of the three adults co-habituating to give Troy his dads _and_ his mom under one roof but mostly people just found it weird or scandalous, including some of their old friends. Mom had offered to move out once, find her own place, when Troy had come home in middle school after dealing with his classmates opinions all day, but Troy had told her no. This was his family, this was his life, and he wasn't going to let some close-minded little people dictate that.

The next day, Pops had taken him out to teach him to drive Dad's ferrari, something he'd been wanting to do for ages, so he knew he'd done the right thing.

And seriously, the only people they were fooling were the people who didn't know them. Grandpa, Philips, and Troy had a bet to see how long it would take before the three of them finally admitted things were much more complicated between them than they let everyone think.

“Hey buddy,” Dad said, spotting him and stopping the session with Pops. Pops nodded at him and then went over to help Mom when she yelled at him to get his ass over there. Troy smiled slightly—Mom was one of the few people who could yell at Pops like that and not get a face full of anger for the effort. Dad leaned against the picnic table Troy had sat down on top of, wiping at his face with a towel. “How was your first day?”

“It was a first day,” he shrugged. He hesitated and then added, “I might have made some friends.” 

“That's good!” Dad said, grinning at him. “What are they like? How'd you meet?”

“Science class,” he answered. “And...they're different. All of them. I don't know them that well, we just kinda got thrown together after school so...”

“Still getting to know each other,” Dad nodded. “Speaking of after school, you heard on the news Angel Grove has a new ranger team?”

“Yeah,” Troy agreed, wondering where this was going. It was no secret Dad and Pops had worked with the Red Time Force and Quantum Rangers back at the Silver Gaurdians, including the deceased Michael Tate, but...oh. “Mom?” he asked.

“Spent almost an hour on the phone after school ranting about moving back to Angel Grove just as the city gets rangers again,” he agreed with quirked lips. “Do me and your pops a favor and whenever there's an attack, call her so she doesn't worry. You know how she gets.”

Troy ducked his head to hide a grin as his mom looked up and scowled at Dad. “I heard that,” she scolded. “Like you both didn't keep looking at your cell-phones and debating on calling him!”

Troy laughed as his dad's both immediately started denying they'd done any such thing. His laughter only got harder when his dad suddenly got a mischievous look in his eye and slipped over to the spout that was connected to the water hose. Dad gave him a big grin as he got just behind the now facing off adults.

“Um, Mom, Pops?” Troy called when she and Pops had gotten into a tugging competition with the spade she'd been using. They both stopped and looked at him. He pointed behind them and they turned to Dad just as the blonde turned on the hose, spraying them head to toe.

“WESLEY!” Mom shrieked and Troy practically fell off the picnic table when Pops lurched forward and got a face full of water for the effort.

The phone started ringing while he watched his dad get tackled to the ground by his mom and pops, so he headed inside to answer it himself. Chances were it was grandpa or even grandma, who’d been bugging him for three months to visit her and Grandfather in Paris for one of his breaks. There was also the possibility it was Uncle Kyle, once again trying to convince Mom to give up her “hippie” ways and get a life of her own. He called her about it every six months or so—last time he’d called, Pops had been the one to answer the phone. It hadn’t ended pretty. 

“Hello?” he answered, holding the phone to his ear and glancing out the kitchen window to where Dad and Pops had ganged up on Mom. 

“Troy!” Yup, it was Grandpa. “How’s California?”

“Grandpa, you only left two days ago,” he said, rolling his eyes. 

“Yes, well, I got up and the news was talking about the new team,” he said. “Wanted to check up on you four.” 

“Grandpa, isn’t it, like, really early in Tokyo?”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Why I let your father schedule my trips I’ll never know, I have a meeting at six!” 

Troy privately suspected it was due to Grandpa scheduling meetings Dad had to attend at ungodly times. It was definitely something Dad would do to get back at his father. Grandpa was continuing, so Troy turned back to the phone. “Speaking of your father, he home by any chance?” 

Troy smiled. “Yeah, but I’ll have to get him a towel before he can talk—him, Mom, and Pops had a hose fight in the garden. It’s a good thing mom’s not actually planning on planting anything until the spring, I’m pretty sure they just ruined all her work.” 

Grandpa chuckled and Troy went to the back door, calling out to his dad and holding up the phone. Dad nodded, handing the hose to Mom, who promptly sprayed Pops straight in the face. Laughing, he grabbed a dish towel and handed first it, then the phone, to his dad. 

“Hey, Dad, how’s Tokyo?” 

Troy wandered out of the kitchen and, grabbing his backpack from where he’d dropped it by the front door, headed upstairs to his room. To do so he had to pass right back by the kitchen and it was only due to this that he heard his dad’s side of the conversation with Grandpa. 

“No, the Guardian’s don’t know and neither does Cruger. I talked to him earlier, he said he spoke to Billy…Cranston, that’s right,” he agreed and Troy frowned. He’d met Cruger several times, him and Dr. Manx both, but Billy…wasn’t Gia’s last name Cranston? 

“No, we don’t, but I called Tommy,” Dad said, running a hand over his fave. “Yeah, I know he’s still not pleased with me but it’s been seventeen years, he really needs to get over it. Yeah, he was all pissy about it at first but decided he wanted to know about the new team more than he wanted to continue being pissed off Kim’s living her life with me and Eric and Troy. ”

He’d never met Tommy Oliver but he’d heard about him from his mom. Mom said they’d dated for a time in high school and even though he was happily married when she had Troy, he had been horribly overprotective and upset when she chose to be Troy’s mom. A huge blow-out with Dad and Pops hadn’t helped matters and Mom hadn’t really talked to him since. 

Then the first part of the last bit percolated through his head and he froze, eyes going wide. _The new team…_ they were trying to figure out who the rangers were! But why, that made absolutely no sense! Yeah, BioLabs had two rangers at one point but the powers had been passed onto SPD until they could get their own team set up. And why contact Mom’s ex-boyfriend about it? What did he have to do with finding out who the new team was?

“No, I don’t, but Eric’s convinced they’re kids,” Dad said and Troy’s heart leapt into his throat. “I don’t know either, he said something about the way they were acting in the footage the news crew got. No, Kim hasn’t called any of them. I think she’s scared to—Billy and Jason weren’t terribly pleased either, you recall. Yeah, she’s thinking of calling Katherine but calling her means Billy’ll find out… I didn’t think of him. He never sided with anyone but he also never made me feel like a pervert when Kim moved in either. He might be perfect. I’ll talk to her about it when Troy goes to bed.”

“Eavesdropping is rude,” a familiar voice said and Troy almost jumped out of his skin as Pops put a hand on his shoulder, a disapproving look on his face. Troy swallowed as he was led away from the kitchen. 

“Why is he trying to find out who the new team are? I mean,” he said, when Pops raised an eyebrow at him. “isn’t that kinda out of his purview?” 

Pops just stared at him and for one heart-stopping moment, Troy was convinced Pops knew he was the red ranger. Then the older man snorted, shook his head, and waved towards the kitchen. “You’re Dad has an interest, given BioLab and the Time and Quantum ranger tech,” he explained. “He’s concerned. We all are.”

“We?” 

“Silver Gaurdian, remember?” he said, raising an eyebrow—a subtle reminder he and dad had worked with the Quantum and Time Force Rangers for years. “And your mom lived here the first time rangers showed up. She’s having flashbacks.” 

There was totally more Pops wasn’t saying but for the life of him, Troy didn’t know what that might be.


	6. Adam

Adam’s concentration was for shit today. 

He’d tried working on his new book but he’d barely managed to get five paragraphs in four hours, something that hadn’t happened to him in months. It was a good thing he was nearly done with the entire trilogy and the first was still being looked over by his editor; George would be completely on his case if he wasn’t. 

Stretching up towards the ceiling, he didn’t even bother trying to figure out what the block was—he already knew. 

For the first time in fifteen years, Power Rangers were in Angel Grove again. 

Just in time for his little girl to be the optimum age for rangering. Damnit. 

He groaned, hands going to his face. It wasn’t that he disapproved of rangering—he’d be the biggest hypocrite in the world if he did—it was just that this was his _little girl_. She was all he had left, after his parents died in a car accident while he was in college and his wife died when Emma was four. The idea of Emma in his place, fighting evil while wearing the form-fitting spandex that didn’t protect nearly as much as people assumed…it made him physically ill. 

And the worst part wasn’t even that his daughter _might_ be a ranger—it was the _not knowing for sure_. He could, theoretically, come to terms with Emma as a ranger if he knew about it and could train her himself (and you could be damn well sure he’d train her himself once he knew!). But not knowing, having to watch her to see if she changed in any subtle yet obvious ways—he didn’t like it. He’d always been able to trust Emma, she was a good girl who’d only ever lied to him once (that he knew of, anyway). He didn’t want that to change. 

_She was his little girl._

This was probably all moot anyway, he tried assuring himself as he got up to go and get a snack. The rangers had been on the job for less than twenty-four hours, he wouldn’t be able to see anything for at least a week, if not more. 

Halfway to the kitchen and the, admittedly insane amounts of cookies he’d baked the day before, the doorbell rang. Changing direction, he wondered who it was. It was too late for any post (unless they got a new UPS driver again) and everyone he knew worked during the day and wouldn’t get off for another few hours. Emma was out of school by now but she’d told him she was going to Ernie’s (another troubling coincidence, in his opinion). It could be Billy, being CEO and founder of his own company allowed him a lot more freedom than the rest, but the former blue ranger would have just come in with his key, he wouldn’t have bothered with the doorbell. Grabbing the doorknob, he opened the front door. 

“Kimberly!” 

Standing on his porch was admittedly the last person he’d expected to see. He’d spoken with Kim off and on for years, probably knew more about her life than a lot of the others, but he’d not actually seen her face to face since that last time when he’d been one of the parent tagalongs on a middle school field trip to BioLab in Silver Hills and she’d been visiting with her own students, including her son.

“Hey, Adam,” she greeted him with a strained smile. She paused and there was something like amusement as she asked, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, realizing he’d been gaping like an idiot for several minutes. He stepped aside and let her in. He led her into the kitchen, watching as she took in the house with an interested but distracted air. “Would you like something to drink? I don’t have any soda in the house—we don’t drink it—but I have tea, water, and juice.”

“Water’s fine,” she said, sitting down gingerly at his island as he pulled out a cup and filled it with water from the pitcher in the fridge. She smiled as he grabbed his own drink and sat across from her. The room was silent as she looked around, hovering on the pictures on the fridge. 

“I’m assuming this isn’t a courtesy call,” he prompted after a moment. She turned to him with a wry smile. 

“No,” she agreed. “Rangers. New rangers. In Angel Grove.”

“You guys are concerned, too, huh?” he asked, trying for a smile and failing miserably. 

“Considering what happened when I got the news…that is a major understatement,” she admitted. “I almost left work to track down Troy.” 

“Are you still at the middle school?” he asked, brow furrowed. She paused and then shook her head. “High school?”

“Technically,” she agreed and then smiled mischievously. “Angel Grove High.” 

Adam paused and then blinked at her rapidly. “Angel Grove—then that means…” 

“I moved back,” she agreed. She paused again. “Well, _we_ moved back. Wes is opening a new BioLab office here so we all moved for the year or so. Eric’s building up some new Guardians, tentatively called Angel Guardians--“ 

“There is no way he came up with that,” Adam noted and Kim laughed.

“He didn’t,” she assured him. “Wes did. Eric hates it, says it sounds like some kids show from Japan.” 

Adam couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sounds like something he’d say,” he agreed. Then something occurred to him and he frowned. “Did you bring Troy?” 

“And you see my concern,” she agreed. “We move to Angel Grove and less than a month later, new Rangers show up in town. And my son takes after his fathers’ in that he wears an alarming amount of red.” 

“Pink,” Adam murmured and Kim gave him a look. He jerked his head towards the fridge and the pictures of him and Emma. “Emma’s wardrobe—it’s mostly pink. I’ve been worried about it since she was in middle school. And it freaks Billy out how much Gia wears yellow.” 

“We never considered it too much—you can guess at how much red Wes and Eric insisted on putting Troy in growing up—but now…it occurs to me that he never argued about it and when he started choosing his own stuff…” she trailed off and Adam nodded. 

“Tommy insists it’s a sign, not matter how much Cruger and Trey make fun of him for it,” Adam said without thinking and Kim’s expression became strained. He frowned. “Does he know you guys moved back?” 

“He does now,” she groused. “Wes called him after we got the news about the team showing up.” 

“That must have been fun.” 

“The funnest.” 

They shared a smile and not for the first time did Adam regret at how badly the team had screwed things up with Kim. Of all of them, only Jason and Zack had sided with the former pink when they found out about Troy; even Adam and Rocky had just tried staying out of it and not say anything. It was something they had both regretted from the moment the blow-out happened. 

“How’s Jason?” 

Jason had held no ill will towards him and Rocky post the blow-out, but as far as he knew, the original red still hadn’t spoken with Tommy beyond when they had to for something ranger related. That didn’t mean Adam had talked with Jason very often himself, of course, but at least they were still friends. 

“Good,” Kim smiled, relaxing a bit. “Still in New York. Dating a cop.” 

“Still with the fire department?” 

“Oh yeah, which is why neither I nor Wes think it’s going to work out—Jason’s schedule is insane at the best of times and the guy is on the night shift,” Kim said easily and then froze. Adam sighed but didn’t say anything. It was no secret Jason was protective about his sexuality and he had reason to be. The Olivers were _very_ conservative and had raised Tommy thusly, which had ended up a huge part of the blow-out. Tommy hadn’t known the original red was bi until he’d yelled it after Tommy had made a remark to Wes about his and Eric’s relationship. The resulting stunned silence was when Eric had bodily dragged Wes and Kim out of the original green’s house and never looked back. 

“I can imagine,” Adam said instead. “How Tanya and Marc make it work, I’ll never understand.”

Kim gave him a small smile, relaxing again. 

“Have you seen any sign from Troy?” he asked, getting back to why Kim was there in the first place. 

“Not…exactly…but it hasn’t even been a full day,” Kim said, hedging. “Wes said he’d made a bunch of friends in first period science but I hadn’t seen him talking to anyone at school yesterday—he ate lunch alone on the quad, in fact.” 

“What about today?” 

Kim looked incredibly reluctant to speak. “That’s why I came here,” she finally admitted. “Gia, Emma, Jake, Noah, and Troy. All of them in a ranger color. All of them hanging out and sitting together in class.” 

“Emma and Gia I understand, they’re best friends,” Adam said, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “Noah and Jake too. But all five of them together now?” 

“Right?” She paused. “I didn’t say anything to Wes or Eric but I think Eric already suspected. He saw footage of the fight and he told me the red’s fighting style reminded him of something, but he didn’t say what. Or who.” 

“He and Wes trained Troy, didn’t they?” 

“Yup,” she agreed with a sigh. She put her head in her hands. “God, this is such a mess.” 

“No kidding,” Adam agreed, slumping down in his own seat. “I’m…I need to know for sure.” 

“And how do you plan on doing that without just asking?” Billy asked, coming inside the room. Kim jumped about a foot in the air, looking wild, but Adam just nodded tiredly at the other man. He’d heard the front door open, but Kim, apparently, had not. Billy walked over and gave Kim a warm, if albeit strained, smile. Kim gave the same exact one back and Adam realized there was going to be a ton of talking in their future if it did turn out to be their kids. 

_We should probably do it anyway, just to finally clear the air,_ he thought to himself as Billy poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat next to Adam. Kim watched him the entire time, a slightly expectant look on her face that quickly morphed into puzzlement. 

“You don’t seem surprised to see me,” she said quietly and Billy raised an eyebrow at her. She rolled her eyes. “Tommy called you, didn’t he?” 

“Ranting,” he agreed with a shake of his head. He paused and then added sheepishly, “I sorta tuned him out after the first couple sentences, I have no idea what he actually said beyond ‘Kim and co moved back to Angel Grove.’”

Kim snorted but she was smiling again. 

“The question stands, though,” Billy said, turning back to Adam expectantly. “How do you plan on finding out the truth without asking her?” 

“Who said I wouldn’t just ask?” 

“And what would you have said, back before, if your dad or mom came out and asked you if you were the black ranger?” Kim asked. 

Adam answered without thinking, “I would have denied it.” He stopped and frowned. “Damn.” 

“Yeah, how likely is it any of our kids are actually going to tell us the truth if we ask?” she asked and this time, when Rocky and Tanya walked in, Kim didn’t jump. 

“I’d know if I ask Jake,” the former red and blue said, dragging a stool over and plopping down at the end of the island as Tanya smiled at Kim and sat down next to her. Rocky smiled wryly, “He takes after me in that he’s a lousy liar.”

They all smiled slightly at him. 

“So you’d know?” Tanya asked. “I mean, I don’t mind telling you guys, I got really good at lying about three days into being a ranger.” 

“Yeah, but, no offense, you had us, who’d been doing it a while,” Rocky pointed out. “They’re all pretty new.” 

“Troy’s not,” Kim noted. “He takes after Wes like that.” 

“He can lie well? Troy, I mean.” 

“When it suits him,” she agreed with a frown. “I think it’s Alan’s fault.” 

“Alan?” Tanya asked. 

“Wes’ dad,” she clarified. “The last four summer’s, per an agreement with Wes, Alan teaches Troy the ‘family business.’ I stopped going to the business dinners with Wes when Troy was four. I hate them.”

“Gia too,” Billy noted. He paused. “Not training with Alan, I mean, but she spends part of her summer at the company. Business dinners have taught her a little bit too much about half-truths and lies for mine and Katherine’s comfort. I don’t think I’d be able to tell if she was lying or not.” 

The two of them shared the look of parents with a common complaint and Adam smiled despite himself. 

“So what do we do?” 

“Well, I can keep an eye on them at school,” Kim said, frowning. “If these guys are anything like Zedd or Rita, things’ll happen and they’ll ditch.” 

“And we keep an eye on them at home,” Tanya suggested. “Noah’s lab is—”

“Noah has a lab?” Kim broke in. Tanya nodded, confused, as Billy began laughing.  
“I forgot about that,” he said, shaking his head. To the others, he added, “before I started working primarily at the Command Center for privacy, I had my own lab in the garage.” 

“That’s where Noah’s is,” Tanya said, surprised, and Billy nodded. 

“Exactly,” he agreed. “I’m seeing some striking similiarities….red, yellow, blue, black, and pink? Possible blue garage lab? … _Ernie’s_?” 

“I swear, the PTB have a demented sense of humor,” Kim shook her head and the others all snickered. 

“I’m going to offer to teach Emma self-defense again,” Adam said. “She’s taken classes in the past but it wasn’t something she’d ever been really interested in—even when Tori offered, she was more interested in being introduced to Dustin so he could teach her motocross.” 

“Was Tori upset?” Kim asked, curious, and Adam snorted as he recalled the former blue’s response. 

“She was actually more upset Emma didn’t want to learn how to surf,” he answered and Kim giggled. After so many years, it was a nice sound to hear. Surreal, but nice. 

“So Adam’s gonna offer to train Emma—”

“I’ll do the same with Jake, though I’m just gonna start doing kata’s again when I know he’s in the house,” Rocky interrupted Tanya. “He’ll know somethings up if I just randomly offer.” 

“If they are rangers, Jake’ll offer to teach Noah cause my baby boy? Not a fighter at heart,” Tanya said. She paused. “I take it we’re not going to confront them right away then?” 

“I want more proof before we do it,” Billy said firmly and everyone nodded. “I want us to be absolutely sure its them before we say anything because once we do, we’re going to have to explain our own pasts.” 

“Oh, won’t _that_ be fun,” Kim muttered. “In some ways, you guys are lucky.” 

“How so?” Adam asked, confused. Kim gave him a look. 

“None of your kids share their parents’ color,” she informed him primly. “I have to put up with all sorts of red bullshit from my—from Eric and Wes. I don’t look forward to adding my son to that mix. Of all the reds, _Rocky’s_ the only sensible one.”

“It’s the zeo blue in him,” Adam heard Billy murmur to Tanya, who giggled. 

“Jake’s a snake,” Rocky said, looking disgruntled and completely ignoring the slight dig at himself. “I _hate_ snakes!” 

Adam caught Billy’s eye and despite everything, despite the worry still churning in his gut and the fear for his little girl, he began laughing. 

He’d be okay. He wasn’t alone anymore.


End file.
